from DAVID H. FRENCH VOL. 4 THE ROADS Fasc. 4.1 NOTES ON THE ITINERARIA British Institute at Ankara Electronic Monograph 10 2016
Mavi Boncuk | Roman Roads in Asia Minor SOURCE
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Famous Roman Roads in Asia Minor
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First Roman roads started to be built with the beginning of the Roman Republic. Roads were built and maintained during the Roman Empire era too. 372 roads were connecting 113 provinces of the Roman civilization. There were estimated 400,000 kilometers of roads ever built by Romans and about quarter of these roads were paved.
Roman roads in Asia Minor had standard 2.37 (8 feet) meters width. Later width was updated into 3.7 (12 feet) meters. Ideal Roman road was straight and needed as little maintenance as possible.
A horse powered cart could travel in between 40 and 50 kilometers in a day. A pedestrian could walk in between 20 and 25 kilometers a day. Ox pulled carts were especially used to transport cargo city to city. It was allowed to ride on the Roman roads as long as you are a married woman, businessman or government official. Carts were not allowed within less than a kilometer of city walls and in the city centers since carts damaged the pavement stones.
Roads in Asia Minor were originally built by the Roman government but once they were built it was province’s duty to maintain them. Also, citizens who had interest in the road and people with money to donate could pay for the maintenance too. A state official called censor was in charge of the roads in his area. The first Roman roads in Asia Minor were targeting Ephesus since the city was the capital of the Asia Minor. The first governor pointed by the Roman Empire was Manius Aquillius (129–126 BCE) and he immediately started building roads in Anatolia.
Roman Road in Tarsus
Tarsus was the capital city of the Roman province of Cilicia. Today some parts of this road on the north of Tarsus was unearthed and as we understand the road was made of basalt stone. Sewage tunnels were discovered underneath the road suggesting there were settlements nearby the road. There is still no clear evidence telling which city was connected to Tarsus via this road.
Via Egnatia
Via Egnatia had the length of 1100 km (685 Miles). Ancient road Via Egnatia used to connect the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire Byzantium, later Constantinople and Istanbul to the Western Roman Empire’s capital which was the city of Rome.
Apostle Paul used Via Egnatia when he travelled from Philippi to Thessaloniki as it is mentioned in Acts 16-17. Legendary Roman emperor and generals of the Roman Empire such as Pompey, Claudius, Octavian, Hadrian and Trajan walked on Via Egnatia when they marched on to Asia Minor.
Roman Road in Cilicia
The Roman road in Cilicia is located in Mersin city of modern Turkey. We believe Roman Province of Cappadocia was connected to the Roman Province of Cilicia with this road.
It is very likely that the Roman road in Cilicia was built in the first century which makes it possible for Apostle Paul to use this road during his journeys into the Roman Province of Galatia and Roman Province of Cappadocia.
Roman road in Cilicia
There are tombs belonging to the Roman and Byzantine periods and written repair inscriptions about the road on the route. There is an arched structure on the Roman road of Cilicia. It is estimated that this gate was the triumphal arch and the starting point of the Cilician borders or was built as a border gate.
Via Sebaste
Via Sebaste was built about 2000 years ago. The main function of “Via Sebaste”, which was built by Cornutus Agulia in the time of Augustus was to keep the new colonies created in the region under seizure. Via Sebaste was also known as the “King’s Road”. Lycia et Pamphylia Province of Roman Empire and the Galatia Province of Roman Empire was connected to the Mediterranean city of Antalya by this road.
Roman Road in Ankara
Roman Road in Ankara was discovered in 1995 during excavations in the Turkish capital city of Ankara. Greater excavations were made in 2007 and some surprising artifacts were found. A Greek style Hermes statue, probably used as a milestone, was found. Baked ceramics from the 1st century bc, a broken female statue of the late Roman era but the most unexpectedly a lot of smoking pipes of the Ottoman era were unearthed. Archeologists claim there was an Ottoman tea house in the area that’s why people dropped their old smoking pipes here.
Easy-to-carry road maps did not exist in the ancient world, but travelers could purchase an itinerarium that listed the cities, villages, and other points of interest along a route and the number of miles between them. On the road itself, every mile was marked by a stone column (thus the term "milestones"). Some of these columns were inscribed with information about who built the road and how far one was from the end of the road, like the one below that was found five miles east of Ephesus. Interestingly, the inscription gives more prominence to the name of the Roman governor who commissioned the road (Manius Aquillius) than to the distance (the "E" at the bottom signifies five miles).